26 RIO DE JANEIRO. [chap. it. 



was marked by the change of .sliade, produced by the drooping- of 

 theii sensitive petioles. It is easy to specify the individual objects 

 of admiration in these grand scenes ; but it is not possible to give 

 an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, astonishment, 

 and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind. 



April 19th. — Leaving Socego, during the two first days, we 

 retraced our steps. It was very wearisome work, as the road 

 generally ran across a glaring hot sandy plain, not fiir from the 

 coast. I noticed that each time the horse put its foot on the fine 

 siliceous sand, a gentle chirping noise was produced. On the 

 third day we took a different line, and passed through the gay 

 little village of Madre de Deos. This is one of the principal 

 lines of road in Brazil ; yet it was in so bad a state tliat no wheel 

 vehicle, excepting the clumsy bidlock-waggon, could pass along. 

 In our whole journey w^e did not cross a single bridge built of 

 stone ; and those made of logs of wood were frequently so mucii 

 out of repair, that it was necessary to go on one side to avoid 

 them. All distances are inaccurately known. The road is 

 often marked by crosses, in the place of milestones, to signify 

 Avhere human blood has been spilled. On the evening of tiie 

 23rd we arrived at Rio, having finished our pleasant little ex- 

 cursion. 



During the remainder of my stay at Rio, I resided in a cottage 

 at Botofogo Bay. It was impossible to wish for anything more 

 delightful tiian thus to spend some weeks in so magnificent a 

 country. In England any person fond of natural history erjjojs 

 in his walks a great advantage, by always having sometljing to 

 attract his attention ; but in these fertile climates, teeming with 

 life, the attractions are so numerous, that he is scarcely able to 

 Avalk at all. 



The few observations which I was enabled to make were 

 almost exclusively confined to the invertebrate animals. The 

 existence of a division of the genus Planaria, wiiich inhabits the 

 dry land, interested me much. These animals are of so simple a 

 structure, that Cuvier has arranged them with the intestinal 

 worms, thougli never found witliin the bodies of other animals. 

 Numerous species inhabit both salt and fresh water; but those to 

 which I allude Avere found, even in the drier parts of the forest, 



